Inspirational Support

As part of the launch of The Silver Pen blog, last week I also launched a new Facebook page by the same name. I’m pretty new to the world of social media. Very new, actually.

I had no idea that one page could inspire the development of an entire community (I mean I guess if I really thought about it, I probably would have agreed that it could potentially have this impact). I digress. Anyway, I am now witnessing this phenomenon firsthand. I have been seriously blown out of the water by the responsiveness to The Silver Pen Facebook page. What is happening on the page is nothing short of miraculous, in my opinion.

Practically overnight (actually over the period of about a week), a community of people has come together for encouragement, support, advice, and resources. It is essentially an online support group.

As I witnessed in graduate school and in my clinical work as a nurse and social worker, participation in a group can have tremendous Silver Lining effects.

Two phrases succinctly describe how valuable support groups are: “Sharing is Caring” and “Learn to Cope through Knowledge and Hope.”

Support group members provide each other with various types of help for a particular shared, usually burdensome issue or illness. The help may take the form of inspiring hope, providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others’ encounters, providing sympathetic understanding, and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. Members of a support group can also help educate one another about treatment and coping options.

Another advantage of a support group is that people of different ages and walks of life, who were once strangers, have now become friends (as in Facebook friends!). They have something in common with each other. Because they understand each other and what it is like to suffer from a shared life challenge, they are willing to help and support one another.

Now, truth be told, when I was going through treatment, I did not attend a support group. Partially because I could barely get my bald head out of the house for treatment, much less to a support group. Partially because I wasn’t in a place to be able to take in other people’s problems…or so I thought. This is one instance where my professional background did NOT influence my personal experience.

In other words, I think that support group participation could have helped me…especially when I was on Isolation Island. In fact, a variety of studies support the fact that a community can lower levels of stress hormones, improve quality of life, and enhance immune function. Shoulda-coulda-woulda. It’s never too late to teach an old FBC patient a new trick, though!

Speaking of which (yes, I’m the “old” one!), I have to say how excited and honored I am to consider myself a part of this community of people on The Silver Pen Facebook page, not just those who have had or do have cancer by the way. Many people who are friends and/or family members of people with cancer (all different types) are writing. The stories are phenomenal.

Witnessing the fact that the participants are living inspiration to others which is the greatest Silver Lining I can imagine.

If you need some support or inspiration, I’d love to have you join!

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.

Comments

I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this fb group. I am the wife of a 59 year old man who has just finished 6 rounds of chemo treatments for lung cancer. There are days when I have the energy to reach out for support, and other days when I have no energy and withdraw. Caregivers of cancer patients need support too. You have to remain upbeat, positive and full of faith for your loved one. It does make a difference!! This is so great to offer a place where we can offer love and support to each other!! God has blessed you with your loving and caring heart!!

Dear Dee, Thank you so much for your kind note. You are so right that caregivers of cancer patients need support as well. Being a caregiver is incredibly difficult and challenging and exhausting! All my best wishes to you and your husband! Please take good care and stay in touch. Hollye

I'm so grateful to you for starting the new Facebook group, especially with the fun and positive spin you've put on it! I didn't take part in a support group during my cancer treatment either for exactly the same reasons as you. But I actually think I need the support group more now, two years after my treatments ended. I think you discover after going through cancer that your life changes in so many ways, you need to find a new "normal" and no one understands that more than your fellow breast cancer "sisters!" I'm really enjoying your comments and your blog and the daily posts from others.

I just looked at The Silver Pen on Facebook and I can't tell you how amazed I am – the women, the stories and the very real need for something like this. What a beautiful way to reach out and come together as a group. It also amazes me that you can do all of this as you are still in the early stages of your own cancer journey. Take care! Thank you for everything!
Kim

Where are you? Your time says 7:57?? It's 10:57 here. Whatever again welcome & "Don't sweat the small stuff & it's all small stuff "& you are getting better every day-"BELIEVE & Just breathe-don't stop believing or breathing!! My motto for today

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Hollye’s book, The Silver Lining: A Supportive and Insightful Guide to Breast Cancer, was published by Simon & Schuster on March 2014. The book is co-authored by her dear friend, photographer Elizabeth Messina. It became a New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times bestseller.